City Nature – Tree Tomb, Kasturba Gandhi Marg General by The Delhi Walla - September 4, 2023September 4, 20230 Trees of Kasturba Gandhi Road. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In this megapolis of tombs, this too appears to be a tomb. A tree fell down some years ago, here at Kasturba Gandhi Marg. All that is left is the stump of the trunk. The site resembles a memorial because a circle of unpainted bricks borders the tree’s remains (see photo). As if these remnants were sacrosanct, not to be stepped upon by an unsuspecting passerby. What tree was it? A quick investigation ended up in a catalogue of all the trees lining this side of the road. The survey begins at the KG Marg’s starting point, across the radial from Connaught Place’s N-block inner circle, and ends at British Council. You
City Walk – Chhatta Shaikh Mangloo, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - September 4, 2023September 4, 20230 Life of a lane. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It flows like a nadi from under the shadow of the Jama Masjid. But a citizen walking on the street won’t see anything of the grand mosque. Flanked by multi-stories, Chhatta Shaikh Mangloo teems with crowds. This afternoon, a man is ambling along with a car door, but minus the rest of the car. Noting extraordinary. The street is overstuffed with shops overstocked with spare car parts. “This is selfstarter, this is altimotor, that is wiper machine, those are inner parts”—-a trader remarks, his grease-stained hand waving at the shop’s mind-churning clutter of metal knickknacks. The spare car parts popped up in the street a few decades ago. It was formerly lined